Worthless
by StephanieIrvine
Summary: She's essentially worthless.' There are lines you don't cross. For Chris Jericho, Randy Orton crossed one. Stephanie McMahon and Chris Jericho. Spoilers for 01-19-09 Raw. One-Shot


**Disclaimer**: Don't own anyone or anything to do with the WWE.

**Author Note**: So yeah, I hated Randy's comments to Steph last night and I figured I'd write my own version. Sorta spoiler for last night. But pretty much AU after that. Enjoy and review.

**Worthless**

In life there are lines, boundaries really, and you don't cross those. It was a universal fact, Chris believed, everyone and their mother knew it. You can push against them, try and break them - but you do not cross them. No matter who you are. So, it occurred to Chris, as he fumed, why the hell Randy Orton felt the need to cross one very close to his heart.

_Who the fuck did he think he was?_

Anger coursed through him and he wanted to lash out and hit something hard and make it break beneath him, preferably Randy's face.

_I should have stayed out there, fuck the plan._

He was watching from backstage, and the scene in the ring did not please him in the slightest. No one, _no one_, talked to her like that. The word worthless echoed through-out his head and his anger intensified. There were words that described Stephanie, he had used plenty in jest, but _worthless_? Stephanie was anything but worthless. Rash, yes. Impulsive, without a doubt. But worthless, fuck no.

Yes, Randy had crossed a line and Chris, well he crossed his own line when he crossed the entrance and made his way out into the same arena he had only minutes ago vacated.

"Worthless?" he heard his voice question and noted how he suddenly garnered the attention of everyone in the ring and the majority of the people in the crowd as well. The confusion was well written across their faces, and the boo's hissed out, but this was much more important that the crowds reaction to him. "Worthless?!" his voice rose an octave. He noted the shock on Stephanie's face, the surprise on Vince's and the uncertainty on Randy's. He understood Stephanie's, this was not at all what they had planned, he was messing it up - he knew that, but he couldn't let this go.

Raising the mic to his mouth Randy informed him, "This is none of your damn business Jericho - unless of course you want to get on your knees again."

He could have bantered with Randy, built it up and tore him down, he was gifted in that way where he could dominate anyone at any moment in time with his mic skills (he had not ten minutes before in his ruse with Stephanie), but now, at this point in time all he could focus on was worthless. It taunted him. He looked at her then and she looked back, her eyes pleading for him to keep quiet, but the word came back to him like a bad taste in his mouth and his hands clenched into a fist. "When you speak Randy are you conscious of your words?" he questioned and watched Randy look at him, wondering just where the hell he was going with this. He watched him bring the mic back to his mouth and just as he was about to reply Chris continued. "Because...because I don't think you do. Otherwise," he carried on with a hollow laugh. "You wouldn't have called her that."

"Why the hell do you care?"

Why did he care? The words were going to tumble out of his mouth and she was going to castrate him, he knew that - they had planned this for so long and he was ruining it, but he felt justified, Stephanie was not _worthless._ "Well, other than the fact that you just insulted my kids _and_ my wife, I just don't like your tone."

The arena was silent, the crowd stunned as well as two out of the three people in the ring. He watched Stephanie, anticipated her rage at him divulging this to the world, but her eyes slide to a close and he watched as she took a breath and when they open she was staring at him, much like he was with her and there was no rage or anger, there was...was the relief? He could understand that, there was only so long you could keep your children and marriage hidden before your mind exploded.

The crowd were probably wondering how this could actually be happening. Married? _Children? _It was simple really, they'd had this undeniable attraction to each other all the way back to their first scene where he had mistaken her for one of the Godfather's ho's and they had managed to restrain themselves for a while, but when Paul had been injured with his quad they had succumbed and their relationship from there had been pretty much an on-going thing until she had found out she was pregnant. She hadn't wanted to lead on Paul so she had told him straight and he had admitted that he had reconnected with Joanie and they had agreed to a divorce, with the pretense of being together as a cover. Stephanie had enough labels, adulterer wasn't one she wanted. When the divorce had become final, they married a week later. Murphy was a surprise, but he loved her to death.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard," he sneered, walking forward. "You think you can call her that and walk away without any consequences? Oh, Randy how sadly mistaken you are." He had reached the ring and pulled himself up onto the apron, noting that Vince had enough sense to move Stephanie behind him and back away. "I could have dealt with the fact that you commented on how the people paid to see you, hell I could almost have deal with the fact you brought my kids into it and sure any other word you could have used to describe Stephanie might not have provoked this reaction from me and this scene right here between us all, might not have happened. But you had to push it and smash your way through the line didn't you?"

Randy sneered back and nodded. "I'm only stating what everyone else thinks. She's a worthless bit-"

Chris flew at him before he could even finish that sentence. His first blow landed on Randy's temple and his forward momentum had them on the mat before Randy knew what the hell had happened. Furious, Chris kept on lashing out left, right, left, right leftrightleftright, until his arms hurt. He slowed and his hands were bloody, he didn't know if he had busted his hands or if it was Randy's face, he just knew he didn't feel satisfied. Grabbing Randy's t-shirt he pulled him forward and leaned into him. "I love her, god I love her so much it hurts." He whispered to the bloody body beneath him, but the mic nearby picked up every word. "And I tried, I tried really hard Randy to let it go - you should have seen me after you left her office," he commented with a laugh. "I was ready to come after you then, but she stopped me and that was for the best. It was, because when those words left your mouth, the anger she subdued it multiplied ten-folds and look at us now. Such a mess you've made," he spoke with a sneer, as Randy coughed below him and blood from his mouth smeared across Chris's suit. "If only you'd learn to keep your mouth shut."

He pushed him away then and stood up, towering down over Randy. It might have seemed he had taken this too far, but to him Chris felt justified and he's shown the world who was really worthless. He watched as Randy tried to climb to his feet, but he only made it to his knees and an idea struck. He walked forward and grabbed Randy's jaw, looked him dead in the eyes and demanded, "Apologize."

"N-No." Randy stuttered out.

"Apologize now, or the only way you're leaving this ring is in a stretcher. Tell my _wife_," Chris demanded, with a glint of madness in his eyes and with each word his grip tightened. "You're sorry."

"I'm sorry!" Randy snarled.

"No," Chris snarled back. "Like you mean it!"

He waited and the anger rose again and he was a second away from making Randy pay all over again when he felt a hand rest on his arm. He knew that touch, seeked that touch at times. His whole demeanor changed as the anger melted away as he turned to face her. She smiled at him and the hand that was on his arm was now on his face and she leaned in and kissed him. He kissed her back like he always did and sighed into her, this was all he needed. She pulled back and whispered to him, how this wasn't what they had planned and now everyone knew now about them and how she'd have liked to have told her family in private - but hey it was one less issue to worry about.

He smirked at her - like he had been doing for weeks now - and joked, "Least I'll get the perks of being married to he GM now."

She laughed and kissed him again, and the crowd watched with morbid fascination. Watched as _Stephanie McMahon _and_ Chris Jericho_ stood there and drowned out the world, focusing entirely on the each other. They watched as they conversed, wishing they knew what they were saying.

"He's not worth it." Stephanie muttered, her gaze flickering to Randy as he gasped on his knees before them. "Leave him."

Chris turned to look at him and the hatred that he had for that man was apparent. "Get out of here." he commanded to Randy, before turning back to Stephanie. He was about to talk to her when for the second time that night he felt a hand on his arm, only this one wasn't so comforting. He turned and was staring at Vince and for the first time that night, Chris feared for his safety. He waited for what Vince had to say, he expected anything - being newly fired for the second time in a week, an outraged outburst, hell he even expected a hand to connect to his mouth and leave him flat on his back. He never expected the hand extended to him, nor the handshake that followed or the hand that clasped his shoulder in a sign of friendship. Was Vince McMahon accepting him into his family?

Turning to Stephanie they both watched as Vince walked out of the ring. "You dad scares me." Chris told her causing her to laugh.

"Thank you," She whispered to him as she slipped her hand into his own. "For standing up for me."

"You're my wife," Chris commented as they walked out the ring and up the ramp. "I always will."

She was never worthless in his eyes.


End file.
